Torrasque
The Torrasque (a.k.a. Tarrasque)Bill Slavicsek, David Eckelberry, Shawn F. Carnes (March 1, 2000). Alternity: StarCraft Edition. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 978-0786-91618-4 is a specialist zerg strain based on the ultralisk. Overview Only a few torrasques are known to exist. Larger and faster than the more common ultralisk, whole squadrons of infantry and artillery are required to take it down. Without these, the best one can do is flee. Or, better yet, take to the air. Torrasques are known for resurrecting on the battlefield. History The Enslaved Torrasque The first terrans known to have encountered the Torrasque were the Schezar's Scavengers mercenary organization. Schezar's psychics used khaydarin crystal technology to control a cerebrate on Aiur and its brood, along with the Torrasque. The Torrasque had already proven deadly against protoss forces sent against Schezar before a renegade former Alpha Squadron detachment led by Wraith pilot Tom Kazansky and science vessel commander Magellan arrived to arrest the Scavengers' leader, Alan Schezar. Joining forces with Mojo, the renegade terrans assaulted the rogue brood and its keepers. They discovered that the Torrasque regenerated after being "killed". Magellan noted that the Torrasque's genetic signature was similar to the cerebrate's and Mojo theorized that slaying the cerebrate would prevent the resurrection of the Torrasque. The terrans and protoss destroyed the cerebrate, preventing the Torrasque's reincarnation.StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Enslavers bonus campaign, mission 3B: "The Final Blow" (in English). 1998. The Torrasque on Char The Torrasque would appear again during the United Earth Directorate's assault on Char. There one of the three Cerebrates guarding the second Overmind was surrounded by ultralisk caverns that could create the powerful Torrasque. Once again, a cerebrate could resurrect the Torrasque upon its death. The UED's Psi Disrupter, however, prevented the Overmind from resurrecting its cerebrates. As on Aiur, the death of the controlling cerebrate put an end to the Torrasque.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: To Chain the Beast (in English). 1998. A Torrasque on Braxis A Torrasque would find its way to Braxis where it would be placed under Sarah Kerrigan's control by a psi-emitter and used to destroy the Psi Disrupter.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Reign of Fire (in English). 1998. Heart of the Swarm During the Second Great War, the Zerg Swarm under the leadership of Sarah Kerrigan would seek to bolster its strength and recover formerly lost strains of zerg. With the aid of Abathur, Kerrigan could recreate the torrasques. While older torrasques required the power of cerebrates to be revived, new torrasques were genetically modified to use nuclear and radiological components to fuel their regrowth.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Ultralisk Evolution (in English). 2013-03-12. Game Unit StarCraft Torrasques appear as hero units in StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. They are not produceable by the player, while enemy torrasques are often scripted to re-spawn. A good tactic to deal with the torrasque in To Chain the Beast is to use a speed-upgraded vulture to attract its attention while siege tanks blast away at it. So long as the player is microing the vulture, the torrasque will not be able to catch up to the vulture and will continue chasing it until the tanks finish it off. A defensive matrix can also be used on the vulture to protect it in case it does get hit. Twilight Struggle Torrasques appear in Twilight Struggle. The yellow brood defends each cerebrate with one, and destroying a white brood ultralisk cavern causes one to spawn.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Map: Twilight Struggle. (in English). 1998. Heart of the Swarm Campaign A torrasque skin is available to zerg players in Heart of the Swarm, provided they purchase the game's collector's edition.Heart of the Swarm Collector's Edition, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2012-12-03 They are also available as an evolution split of the ultralisk in the zerg campaign, appearing along with the noxious after completing the mission Planetfall. Upon death the torrasque ultralisk will turn into a cocoon, which will rebirth into a new ultralisk. This ability has a 60 second cooldown, so if the ultralisk is killed when it is off cooldown, the ultralisk will die.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Ultralisk Evolution (in English). 2013-03-12. Thanks to the reincarnation effect, the torrasque strain can be far more cost-effective than the noxious strain, potentially giving the player two ultralisks for the price of one (provided that the cocoon is not destroyed). However, the torrasque deals inferior damage to the noxious. Known Torrasques *Wise Old Torrasque (leader of a mercenary brood) Trivia The Torrasque may have been inspired by the creature from ''Dungeons & Dragons'' called the Tarrasque and/or the Tarasque, from which the former creature was derived. References Category: StarCraft Zerg NPC units Category:Zerg breeds Category:StarCraft II Zerg campaign units